With two of its top three scorers in Kyle Lowry and Andrea Bargnani out of the lineup with injuries, and a fan base screaming for change of any sort, the remaining Raptors — led by Linas Kleiza, Terrence Ross, Jose Calderon and DeMar DeRozan — put together a full 48-minute game for the first time in what seemed like ages.

The win, a 95-74 thumping of the Dallas Mavericks, snapped a six-game losing streak and was just their second win in 14 games and No. 5 on the season.

And the biggest reason the wobble went missing for the Raps was that, for the first time probably this season the Raptors defensive focus was on for a full 48 minutes.

The key was keeping O.J. Mayo and the Mavs from finding any comfort level at the three-point line.

Mayo is the second busiest and second most successful shooter from three in the NBA, but he was put under a Raptors defensive blanket and was never a factor with 10 points on the night.

Just four times Mayo broke free to get a three-point attempt off, and didn’t find the range even once.

He attempted four other shots from inside the arc and hit only two of those.

Full credit to Mickael Pietrus, Alan Anderson, and Ross for taking the Mavs’ No. 1 scoring option right out of the equation.

Between them, Pietrus and Anderson hit just two field goals in 15 attempts but their work on Mayo set the tone for the entire night.

“I know when I came out tonight, all I could really show was my effort,” Anderson said of his own 0-for-8 offensive effort. “My shot will fall later on, but I’ve been out for a month, so I couldn’t control that, but I did know that no one would be able to question my defence,” Anderson said.

And with Anderson and Pietrus leading the way, the Raptors, for the first time this year, started to look like the team that made defence a priority a year ago.

“We started having fun with the defence,” Anderson said. “We started getting stops, getting steals, getting dunks off them and once you start seeing that, it was: ‘Hey, let’s get another one.’ The lead builds and everyone was having fun.”

The best part for Anderson was that there was no dropoff, no matter who came in off the bench.

“Every person you put in, it didn’t drop off. It escalated,” said Anderson. “We just played a whole four quarters. I think this was the first time we played a whole 48 minutes of basketball.”

Raptors head coach Dwane Casey called it one of the best games the Raptors have played all year.

He credited the team for getting back to the defensive fundamentals he and his staff have been hammering away on for the past week. But for Casey, it was still just one game. He said there was no relief in just one win.

“No, no. We still have a lot of games to play,” he said. “We need to continue with the basics. Everyone that steps on that floor has to be defensive- minded. The defensive effort has to be consistent if you want to stay on the floor.”

Anderson sounded like he was reading from the same script.

“That game shows what we can do when we buy in,” he said. “This should be a confidence boost for us. We have to use that and learn from it, see that the only way we are going to get somewhere is with defence.”

But the coup de grace for the Raptors defence was holding the Mavs to 0-for-13 from the three-point arc. Dallas had hit at least one three-pointer in 1,108 consecutive games coming into Friday night, the longest streak in NBA history. And the Mavs appeared to have kept that alive when Derek Fisher was credited with a three at the nine-minute mark of the fourth quarter. But a review showed Fisher to be over the line and the call was changed to a two-point basket.

As far as Casey is concerned the offence will come from somewhere and, on this night, it came primarily from Linas Kleiza who drained five of his 11 threes for a season-high matching 20-point night.

Not to be outdone, rookie Terrence Ross turned in a strong defensive night to go with 18 points.

“The one thing about shooters is that they never forget,” Casey said, “and one day the shots are going to start falling. He gets his money’s worth.”

Raptors snap losing skid with win against Mavericks

With two of its top three scorers in Kyle Lowry and Andrea Bargnani out of the lineup with injuries, and a fan base screaming for change of any sort, the remaining Raptors — led by Linas Kleiza, Terrence Ross, Jose Calderon and DeMar DeRozan — put together a full 48-minute game for the first time in what seemed like ages.